I was a printer back in the 80's, and made a blast shield from press blankets, using four thickness'es and gluing them together. It is about 1/4" thick and really works well. I have been using it in dead frog position since 1982. If you know any printers you might see if they can find you some of these.

Thanks for the input folks. Found some suede half-chaps that will work just fine.